Catwanda Forever! Wakanda comes to Catford

The second Catford Kids Craft Fair takes place at Catford Shopping Centre on Saturday 18 August, giving local children an opportunity to get creative.

Following the fair there will be an outdoor screening of the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther. The free event, called Catwanda Forever will take inspiration from the fictional country Wakanda home of the Black Panther in the Marvel universe.

From 11am-4pm in a vacant store, Catwanda Forever will feature local artists running Black Panther themed activities including local tech guru David Morley showing budding techies how to code, Ian Wiley helping children create a new currency for Catford and artist Charlotte Gainey from Catford arts collective 6arts helping children design their dream town centre. There will also be local traders showcasing original and ethical African fashion, accessories and homeware.

The films fictional capital Birnin Zana has been lauded as an ideal in urban design with a rich mix of architectural styles, building densities, and transportation systems and will be used to encourage children to think about how they would like to see Catford change in the future. It will also tackle other themes around people’s perceptions of Catford and explore the realities of living here.

Local food traders Jerk Off BBQ and Bear’s Doughnuts will be serving from 7pm and the film starts at 8pm. The audience are encouraged to bring their own seating.

Below is a video showing highlights from last year’s craft event in December.

Community engagement

The event has been organised by Team Catford, a team of specialists leading on community engagement and place-making on behalf of Lewisham Council. They’re inviting everyone who lives, works, socialises, commutes or runs a business to have their say as Catford goes through its biggest change in decades.

Team Catford has already held numerous face-to-face engagement events and will also be there speaking with locals about the transformation that their neighbourhood is going through.

Regeneration

As part of the regeneration plans, and with agreement from Transport for London (TfL), Lewisham Council is preparing plans to reroute the south circular road, which divides the town centre, unlocking a significant area for several hundred new homes across the town centre; new retail and work space; as well as creating pedestrian-friendly areas, open spaces and new community facilities.

So far over 1600 people have participated in lively debate about the future of Catford town centre via an interactive map tool that encourages local people to share their ideas, browse comments from others and agree or disagree with suggestions. Comments will soon be given to the recently appointed architects Studio Egret West who will develop a masterplan that will allocate areas of the town centre for new public space, shops, homes and office space. This will be shared with the community for feedback, and once agreed, will be the vision for Catford – a blue print to guide planning applications from developers and investors.